Scotland’s Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat held off a game fightback from the Czech Republic to record their seventh win as they completed their round-robin schedule and looked to get set for the knockout phase as they bid to keep the World Mixed Doubles title in Scotland for the third year in a row.
The 2021 champions, whose title was successfully defended by Bobby Lammie and Eve Muirhead last year, had already secured their play-off place ahead of that match, but were keen to maintain winning form and they took charge of proceedings in the first half of the match, setting up a 5-1 lead by the midway break.
Their opponents did well from that point to level things after seven ends, but the Scots applied sufficient pressure at the final end that Dodds did not have to throw her final stone after Julie Zelingrova’s attempt to draw to the button ran beyond the four foot. 
“We actually played a pretty good game in the first half and had a good chance to see off the game in our Powerplay where we were pretty close to making a shot for four, but unfortunately it didn’t come off,” said Mouat, following the 6-5 win.
“So we’ve got lots of positives to build on and we’re going to try to bring an A plus game tomorrow for the USA.
“They’re going to be tough to get past, but we know that we’re able to play good mixed doubles in play-offs, so we’ll definitely be bringing a bit more than we brought there.”
That play-off encounter with the USA’s Corey Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, who finished in second place in Group B with an identical record to the Scots of seven wins and two losses, will be the first time the pairs have met in mixed doubles, but they know one another well.
“We haven’t seen much of the US team play yet, but we know both of them from our men’s and women’s teams, so we should be well acquainted with what they can do,” said Mouat.
As past winners, however, Dodds and Mouat know what is required and are focused on producing their best form when it matters most, as they did in yesterday’s decisive group match which they dominated against Australia. 
“We’re both feeling good after a good week so far,” said Mouat.
“The ice is really good and suits our style of play and we’re definitely looking forward to a competitive game tomorrow.”
The Scotland v USA encounter will get underway at 2am (UK time) and can be watched on the Recast platform.
WATCH LIVE games from Recast’s The Curling Channel.
World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships.
Schedule and Results:
Saturday 22 April
Session 1
Scotland – Canada 4-8
Session 3
Scotland – Denmark 7-1
Sunday 23 April
Session 5 – 6.00am
Scotland – Netherlands 7-4
Monday 24 April
Session 7
Scotland – Korea 11-6
Session 9
Scotland – Italy 8-6
Tuesday 25 April
Session 11
Scotland – Estonia 5-6
Wednesday 26 April
Session 13
Scotland – Hungary 7-6
Session 15
Scotland – Australia 8-6 Qualified
Thursday 27 April
Session 17 – 6.00am
Scotland – Czech Republic 6-5
Friday 28 April
Qualification Games – 2.00am
Scotland - USA
Semi Final – 10.00am
Saturday 29 April
BRONZE Medal Game 2.00am
GOLD Medal Game 6.00am
Scotland MD Team
Jen Dodds
Bruce Mouat
Greg Drummond (MD Team Coach)
Sheila Swan (Coach)
Image: WCF / Stephen Fisher
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